GJNC Recap – 17 USA Champions – Actyve 17 Black

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>USA Jr Nationals, were be held in Chicago a few weeks ago and we were lucky enough to watch in person.&nbsp; Nationals is the ultimate test to the end of the season as it brings together all of the teams who have earned a bid to participate.&nbsp; These wonderful teams have proven themselves through a very long and grueling club season and will compete against other top notch teams who have earned the right to play in this prestigious tourney.&nbsp; We will be highlighting teams and individual players that showed up and showed out!&nbsp; Let's take a look at a few teams and players.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Actyve 17 Black competed in the USA Division of USA Jr Nationals.&nbsp; They are from the Southern California Region and went undefeated during the whole tourney en-route to winning the National Championship. &nbsp;They had a very tough road and played their best when it truly mattered against the best of the best.&nbsp; Here are just a few of the names to know from their talented squad who played very well when I watched them in the championship match.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='195428' first='Jade' last='Fritzinger'] [2024] 5-9 Outside (HS: Chaminade College Prep/Club: Actyve/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":206023,"width":158,"height":105,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/07/66-Jade-Fritzinger.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-206023" width="158" height="105" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jade is currently an unranked prospect in the 2024 class according to our Prep Dig California State Rankings.&nbsp; She plays for Chaminade College Prep and plays club for the Actyve volleyball club program. &nbsp;Miss Fritzinger was amazing as she helped lead her team to a national championship in the USA division of the Girls Junior National Championship.&nbsp; She found so many ways to score from the left side when her team needed it.&nbsp; She tooled the block at will and it was a joy to watch.&nbsp; It is not something that just happens when she attacks.&nbsp; You can clearly see that she has worked on this special skill as she turns on the ball in mid-air to aim for the outside hand of the blocker.&nbsp; Jade was so fast transitioning from block to attack so that she could run any route with pace that the opponent was not ready for it.&nbsp; I love how she was able to attack the ball and move it to any location she wanted to.&nbsp; This ultimate ball control is why she was able to earn All tournament honors from USA Volleyball.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tate Drageset [2025] 5-11 Outside (HS: Buckley/Club: Actyve/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tate is currently an unranked prospect in the 2025 class according to our Prep Dig California State Rankings, but that will change once I update them next month from what I saw in person at nationals.&nbsp; She plays at Buckley High School and also club for the awesome Actyve volleyball club program.&nbsp; Miss Drageset earned Most Valuable Player honors from USA Volleyball because of her amazing point scoring abilities for her squad.&nbsp; She played all the way around and dug hard driven balls over and over.&nbsp; She also had a severely aggressive serve that stifled opposing serve receivers.&nbsp; Offensively she was a genius hitting from both the front row and the back row when her team needed her.&nbsp; I loved how athletic she was when she took off from the ground to attack.&nbsp; Tate played her best against the best and what made it even more awesome was that she did it when her back was against the wall in the championship match.&nbsp; Stay tuned for more on Miss Drageset as we will be watching her journey very closely this year.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='292903' first='Emma' last='Rowell'] [2025] 5-10 Setter/Right Side (HS: South Torrance/Club: Actyve/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Emma is currently ranked as the 47^th best overall prospect in the 2025 class according to our Prep Dig California State Rankings.&nbsp; She plays at South Torrance High School and also for the Actyve Volleyball club.&nbsp; Miss Rowell was phenomenal playing al the way around for her squad.&nbsp; She battled at the net really well on the defensive end to stifle the opposing attackers and was a lethal weapon on the offensive end.&nbsp; What I loved about her play was the she was laser focused as a setter calling out the plays and routes to her attackers.&nbsp; The ball came out of her hands so smoothly as she moved it around to all of her hitters.&nbsp; Her offensive scheme allowed great balance in the attack as she went from pin to pin to keep the defense off-balance.&nbsp; Even during out of system plays Emma was able to deliver hittable balls to her pins to keep the aggression towards the opposition.&nbsp; She was able to earn All Tournament honors from USA Volleyball because of her play.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Other notable players for this star-studded roster are libero Gemma Larbalestier who played amazing.&nbsp; She was a beast during both serve receive and defense.&nbsp; I loved how she was able to cover so much area so fast with awesome footwork.&nbsp; Middle [player_tooltip player_id='195182' first='Rubi' last='Harrington'] was also a menace to opposing attackers.&nbsp; She routinely touched a lot of balls and forced a lot of attackers to change their shots.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As always stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes.&nbsp; If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at <a href="mailto:Michael@prepdig.com">Michael@prepdig.com</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Also don't forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends.&nbsp; Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook.&nbsp; Thanks for following us, Prep Dig Cali Family!&nbsp; Don't be afraid to interact with us.&nbsp; We love the likes, shares, and quotes/comments.&nbsp; Keep them coming!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->